Originating in the medulla (brain stem), the vagus nerve extends down the body with branches reaching the throat and vocal cords, the heart, the lungs (affecting breathing patterns), the stomach, intestines, liver and pancreas, the kidneys and spleen. Its extensive network makes it a critical component of the parasympathetic nervous system, often called the rest and digest system, which counterbalances the fight or flight (sympathetic) response.

The vagus nerve has a two-way communication system: sending signals from the brain to organs and delivering crucial information from the organs back to the brain. When activated properly, it can reduce inflammation throughout the body, potentially alleviating various health issues from digestive problems to chronic pain.

Some of the signs the vagus nerve needs attention include digestive issues, blood sugar regulation problems, elevated heart rate, chronic inflammation, frequent infections and poor recovery after illness and exercise, difficulty managing stress, anxiety, mood instability, brain fog and sleep disturbances.

When vagal tone improves, interoceptive awareness – which recognises hunger and fullness, heart rate and breathing, emotional states, pain and comfort – also becomes more accurate, helping individuals to better respond to the needs of their bodies.

rve has connections to the vestibular (inner ear balance) system, so good vagal tone can also improve balance and coordination, motion sensitivity, spatial awareness and neck and back tension.

Vagus nerve exercises are undoubtedly moving into the mainstream and for good reason. The techniques are mostly simple and accessible – from humming and drawing circles with your tongue, to cold exposure (especially the face and neck), ear stimulation and breathwork – and offer profound benefits across multiple body systems. Awareness will continue to grow and increasing numbers of people will start to incorporate them into their daily routines.

photo: Chiva Som

Vagal tone resetting is becoming a significant focus in the health and wellness industry. With growing research and public interest in how the autonomic nervous system influences mental and physical wellbeing, therapies that enhance vagal tone are gaining traction. This trend reflects an evolving understanding of how lifestyle factors contribute to stress and inflammation, driving both traditional clinics and wellness providers to adopt these approaches to improve overall stress resilience and autonomic nervous system health.

Evidence shows that millions of people could benefit from strategies to improve vagal tone because of increased stress, anxiety and sleep issues. Modern lifestyles are linked to autonomic nervous system imbalances. As the vagus nerve is involved with heart rate regulation and modulating the body’s inflammatory responses, reduced vagal tone has been associated with cardiovascular diseases, such as heart failure and coronary artery disease and inflammatory disorders.

Low vagal tone is commonly observed in mental health conditions, such as depression and anxiety, potentially exacerbating stress responses. There’s also emerging evidence linking imbalances in vagal tone to metabolic issues and gastrointestinal disorders, including conditions like irritable bowel syndrome. These chronic diseases continue to rise globally.

When vagal tone is low, it often reflects a reduced ability of the autonomic nervous system to effectively manage, adapt, or resist stress, which can lead to heightened symptoms of anxiety, poor sleep quality or insomnia, and depression.

Since low vagal tone is associated with decreased heart rate variability (HRV), a marker of the body’s resilience in handling stress, Chiva-Som offers a service called Biofeedback Rebalance that measures HRV. As we guide guests through breathing exercises that encourage rhythmic, calm breathing and improve vagal tone, they can see in real-time how easy it is to change HRV and immediately experience the relaxing effects.

photo: Six Senses

People are tired: brain tired, emotionally tired and physically tired and they need coping mechanisms. While guests may not arrive talking about their “vagal tone”, many describe its symptoms – fatigue that won’t lift, chronic tension, shallow sleep, emotional flatness. They feel something deeper is out of sync and are craving calm, clarity and connection. That’s the nervous system calling out for support.

I can speak to this personally when tests revealed I had chronically high cortisol levels, even though I felt fine. Over a year, I used everything Six Senses offers and slowly things began to shift. My cortisol is now trending in the right direction and the ripple effect has been profound. Better energy, deeper sleep, clearer thinking. Nervous system work is truly foundational. It changes how your body functions at every level.

Nervous system regulation is the golden thread running through Six Senses’ programmes. We blend science and sacred traditions: restorative breathwork, sound healing, forest bathing, yoga nidra, red light therapy and biohacks such as cold exposure, compression therapy and more. One of the most exciting evolutions is the introduction of somatic therapy that helps the body to feel safe again.

Some of our sites use Apollo Neuro, a device which sends gentle vibrations to the nervous system to help it shift out of fight-or-flight mode and I saw first hand how effective it was. Guests might use it in meditation, a sound healing session, or somatic bodywork, creating layered, multisensory regulation experiences.

The results show improvements in sleep, HRV and self-reported wellbeing. Yet, most importantly, interventions make individuals listen to their bodies again.

Supporting the nervous system – whether through humming, breathwork, a forest walk, or a smart wearable – isn’t indulgent, it’s essential. The body wants to heal. It just needs the right environment and signals and a bit of loving patience.

photo: Suble Energies

Vagus nerve activation has long been an integral part of our work, however, as awareness of it grows, we’ve created a dedicated treatment that’s both profoundly effective and educational. While many are beginning to hear about the vagus nerve, there remains widespread uncertainty around its function, how to regulate it and the deep restorative benefits it can offer. This curated experience bridges that gap, offering guests a grounded, science-backed therapy while deepening their understanding of this vital mind-body connection.

The specialist service comprises pranayama techniques, a marma massage and the proprietary Vagus Nerve Procedure from the Bowen Therapy Academy of Australia: a gentle and precise tactile soft tissue technique applied along the upper thoracic, cervical and cranial regions.

The specific pranayama techniques incorporated are clinically shown to enhance heart rate variability (HRV) and increase vagal tone, improving stress resilience and emotional balance. Studies confirm that even brief sessions of this pranayama can shift the nervous system, making it a foundational tool in vagus nerve regulation, which can also be practised at home.

The marma massage gently stimulates vital points along the body’s neurological pathways. While very well studied in the ancient texts, modern interpretations align marma therapy with reflexive activation of the autonomic nervous system, supported by studies indicating increased parasympathetic response and reduced cortisol levels.

Though research on Bowen is still emerging, early findings suggest modulation of autonomic tone and it’s increasingly used to support neurovisceral integration, digestive function and emotional regulation.

High-grade essential oils, including mogra, sandalwood, Himalayan rose, jatamansi, kewda and tulasi, are selected to modulate mood and autonomic function and some have specific chemical constituents that curate a more profound effect. Clinical trials have shown that specific essential oils increase HRV, reduce anxiety and lower cortisol.

photo: Remedy Place

Nervous system regulation is going to become one of the most talked-about and most important conversations in health and wellness over the next decade. People aren’t just looking for fitness routines or diets — they’re searching for real balance and deeper healing.

As the world becomes more overstimulated and disconnected, the need for nervous system support is only going to grow. We’re just beginning to understand how critical it is for everything – our health, relationships, productivity and longevity.

There are so many factors that can lead to nervous system dysregulation and the unfortunate reality is that modern life exposes us to almost all of them. Chronic stress, poor sleep, trauma (both physical and emotional), nutrient deficiencies, excessive screen time, lack of movement, shallow breathing and environmental toxins all place a constant burden on our nervous system. When we’re overstimulated, under-recovered and disconnected from our bodies, our system shifts into survival mode for far too long.

When the nervous system is dysregulated, it impacts nearly every system in the body, with symptoms such as anxiety, chronic fatigue, digestive issues, inflammation, hormonal imbalances, brain fog, or trouble sleeping, to name a few. Over time, these effects compound and can contribute to more serious chronic conditions.

At Remedy Place, every experience is designed to restore balance, increase adaptability and build resilience in the nervous system. Some of our most effective vagus nerve and nervous system reset tools include contrast therapy, breathwork and sound baths, hyperbaric oxygen therapy, chiropractic and manual therapies.

The most powerful medicine comes from within. If you give the body what it needs and remove what’s working against it, it knows how to return to balance.

The vagus nerve is something we’re going to be hearing more about. The future of wellness isn’t just about looking better or living longer, it’s about feeling regulated, grounded and resilient in your daily life. That starts with the nervous system.

photo: Nurosym

Nurosym is a non-invasive, wearable medical device that deploys gentle electrical impulses to stimulate the auricular branch of the vagus nerve, accessible through the surface of the outer ear. The electrical signals are precisely calibrated to activate the parasympathetic nervous system, shifting the body out of fight or flight and towards rest and digest.

Over the past decade, Parasym – the developer of Nurosym – has invested more than US$10 million (€8.7 million, £7.5 million) in research to make vagus nerve stimulation accessible, non-invasive and safer for a broader population. The device is now backed by more than 50 clinical studies, conducted in collaboration with institutions such as Harvard, UCLA and Yale.

These studies have shown a range of physiological and psychological benefits, including up to a 61 per cent increase in vagus nerve activity within minutes; improved sleep quality and reduced fatigue; lower anxiety and depression scores; reduced systemic inflammation and improved heart rate variability.

While Nurosym provides targeted stimulation, I recommend combining it with daily habits to maximise its benefits: natural light in the morning to regulate circadian rhythms; prioritising nutrient-dense, anti-inflammatory foods; maintaining regular sleep and meal times; using breathwork, meditation, or gentle movement to engage the parasympathetic system, as well as reducing alcohol, caffeine and screen time, particularly before sleep. Practices like humming, cold exposure and social engagement can also help.

These practices, when combined with Nurosym, may help regulate the nervous system more effectively over time. Most users begin to feel benefits within five to 10 days, particularly in areas like sleep, mood and stress levels. However, for more persistent or chronic conditions, it may take four to 12 weeks of regular use to see full therapeutic effects.

photo: R Sampson

I diagnosed myself with a dysregulated nervous system a few years ago, when I emerged from a particularly challenging run of life events. Every morning, I woke up feeling exhausted; the anxiety/hypervigilance was a constant energy drain, easily tipping me into overstimulation/overwhelm. Brain fog affected my concentration. I could never catch up on sleep because of waking multiple times in the night. It felt like my soul was tired and I needed to stay at a high-end spa for a year. On my own.

After a 10-minute phone call, my GP prescribed HRT, antidepressants and sleeping tablets. That felt very gloomy. Then I heard about the vagus nerve and embraced all the modalities to improve it: sea swimming through winter; sound baths, somatic exercises; yoga, meditation, earthing; shaking; EFT tapping; breathwork, humming; walks in nature…

While they all feel pleasantly calming – most of these practices I intend to keep forever – and my symptoms have improved, it has still felt like I’m falling short of a full vagus nerve reset. I want stress to roll off me, to have the focus and zen of a Buddhist monk and the energy levels I had in my 20s, which I believe might be possible if I can sleep deeply for a solid 8 hours a night.

So I was intrigued to try the Nurosym – a device I could attach to my ear and carry on with my day. After the first go, I had a cracking night’s sleep. Sadly, it was just the one night.

However, over a month – and it’s been quite a challenging month – I’ve noticed subtle, yet profound, differences. My HRV has improved, I’m also getting better at behaviours which make my nervous system feel safe – resting when tired instead of my default setting of pushing on through; asking for help; setting boundaries; recognising what is in and out of my control; staying calm and not reacting in stressful situations; having difficult conversations rather than avoiding them; better concentration.

I feel like the fog is rolling back. I’m more present and tolerant of noise. I’m less anxious, have a more optimistic mindset and better energy levels. It’s the reset I’ve been looking for.

Sleep is still a work in progress, but nights are trending in the right direction and I’m feeling hopeful that I’ll get there.